God Bless John Wayne

Book excerpt: “Kinky Friedman is to the detective novel what Frank Zappa is to rock and roll: a gleeful gadfly who delights in offending purists. . . . There's just no stopping him. And who wants to?”—People Since Sam Spade, no private investigator has been charmed to see a deadbeat client darken his door—and country singers turned amateur detectives are no exception. That goes double for deadbeats who are their friends. So when Ratso—longtime pal, assistant crime solver, and notorious nonpayer—comes to Kinky with a case of his own, the Kinkster is reluctant to take it on. But if there's one thing a country singer relates to, it's mamas, and it's his long-lost birth mother that adoptee Ratso is seeking. The case turns sour in a hurry, and soon it gets hard to tell the murder victims from the suspects. One thing's for certain: Kinky would rather have a deadbeat for a client than be a dead dick. Praise for God Bless John Wayne “Brash, crass and colorful.”—Houston Chronicle “How is this mystery writer different from all other mystery writers? . . . We don't read him, for instance, to find out what happens next. We read him to find out how far he will go.”—The Washington Post Book World “God Bless John Wayne is another triumph for the Kinkster—the perfect mix of mystery, literature and wit.”—The Associated Press